Speculation: Caps General Discussion (Coaching/FAs/Cap/Lines etc) - 2021 "Season" Pt. 4

Part 3

 

On a totally different subject. Hank!!!

 

Vrana is moving towards being not worth his next contract for Caps. I'd gamble to move him for Hall if it's with Panik. If you consider the price of acquiring Hall to be #1st, then dumping Panik is another high pick, giving up Vrana before he gets 0 points in playoffs and then asks for 6M doesnt sound that much of a tragedy.

Maybe its not the best asset management, but waiting for him to bring it could be costly. Every year is crucial for Ovi.

If Lavi thinks Vrana is not a fit for him - trade him at deadline and forget about it.

Bonus: Kuznetsov with some fire under his ass. Next will be him for sure. Could be as good as getting assets for Vrana if not better.

 

?

 

I second this. ?

 

Lundqvist did an interview with Kevin Weekes today saying he has a dr appt coming shortly where he could get cleared to play.

 

Have we learned nothing from Burakovsky and Stephenson? Heck, even Johansson had a successful playoff run with Boston. This team already has a shortage of players capable of making plays at speed, and getting rid of one of the ones they have is a bad idea. Playoff scoring is a tiny sample size, taken from only 1-4 different opponents. Don't freak out if a normally productive player has slower playoff stats, it doesn't mean they will always be that way. People said the same thing about Burakovsky, and he potted 17 points in 15 games for Colorado last year in the playoffs.

I get it, Vrana is the new whipping boy (just as we knew he would be after Burakovsky was traded). But at a certain point patience is going to pay off more than cycling thru all of the team's skilled wingers.

 

Catching up with some posts from the last version of this thread.

Panik has been disappointing. I was holding out hope that he could turn it around, as some of fundamental play and prior results indicate that he could, but the longer that he goes on without being productive the more discouraged I get. Totally fine with waiving him given that Sprong and Sheary have outplayed him this year.

Tortarella seems actively intent on getting himself fired in Columbus. Highly doubt that he's there next year. Don't see them as an ideal trading partner, regardless. That franchise is lost as to which direction they're trying to go right now.

 

Eh, I dunno. There's ample sense in trading high if the coach isn't a believer and the right fit comes along. Of course, a lot could change in the off-season in reassessing the mix but if the coach isn't a fan? That's a problem. Those players doing well elsewhere are playing in roles they wouldn't get in DC playing a more up-tempo style with better players. It happens. The Caps aren't exactly an easy gig at this stage for secondary finesse players. Are they going to pay arbitration price (or more on a longer-term deal) in a potential cap crunch scenario? It really doesn't seem like it barring a near total turnaround in underlying habits. They could wait until the draft and net better futures rather than a rental or opt for a non-rental at the deadline that fits structurally/stylistically. The later seems like the best idea but no name on TSN's trade bait board jumps out as being worth it. They'd need to dig deep to make that sort of hockey trade worthwhile. Not impossible but as far as younger players go (like a Laine) they wouldn't come without their own issues.

I'd probably just let it out play out and move him for futures at the draft if that ends up being the play. Surely MacLellan is about the short-term and for a lot of reasons it's at least worth considering what might be available. They've got bigger problems, though, and as an asset that may be more valuable in the off-season under a more sweeping set of restructuring changes.

 

Hoping to see King Henrik in action this year. What a fantastic story that would be.

 

What would the bottom 5 contracts by McPhee look like?
Jagr
Nylander
Laich
Clark
Theodore

 

My number 3 spot is an unfair, "hard to pick just one" type of entry for every garbage 5-6 defenseman that got to play an extra year or two here before inevitably washing out of the league shortly after. Morrisonn, Hillen, Erskine, Corvo, Kundratek, Oleksy, god that list keeps going and it's just putrid.

 

Quotation shortened.

I dont have clear vision over what to do with Vrana right now, but Burakovsky and Stephenson succeeding in other organizations should not weight anything on the debate. Those guys are succeeding because they got out to a better fit for where they were as players, not because they just "needed another year". It wasnt just a fit here, with the team and where the players were and the comfortable level they were with us, and they got more than enough of years here to find their place. We can just be happy they were part of the SC team and founded success elsewhere aswell.

If Vrana-train goes that way too, then so be it. These are good players (Bura, Majo, Vrana), but not something we should be overly worried about. Those guys come and go. If BM and Lavi decides they want someone else on the 2nd line, im fine with it. If they decide to keep Vrana, im fine with that too. Whatever it takes to give our real core the best kicking chance to win four playoff series.

I like Vrana, but also see the flaws. Sometimes he is a bit of a passenger, and although i think playoff stats are highly overrated, it doesnt look all good that he does have 0 points the last two runs. Its propably best to re-evaluate after this season anyways, but I wouldnt hang up the phone if someone wanted to discuss before that either.

I agree with Raikkonen for that asset management should not be much of an priority for us right now. Whatever assets it takes to compete for the remaining short window, I just dont care. I have zero interest right now how we look the season after Ovie retires. If you can find a guy who BM/Lavi thinks is better for us than Vrana this season or the next, go get him. I dont care if its for an older or slower guy, but just make sure its a fit.

 

My mindset a year ago just despising this man for being arrogant and all the rest to where I am now during his recovery just blows my mind.

If he comes back this year I will absolutely, 100%, unapologetically lose my shit.

 

It's too bad Vancouver is where they are with all the Covid nonsense. I would have loved Pearson as a deadline pickup.

I'm not sure if he was ever mentioned but he's a pending UFA, can play up and down the lineup, former Stanley Cup winner, and he played for the Penguins which seems to be an ever-growing trend for us haha.

I always like to see us grab guys that can move around on lines. Nothing frustrates me more than a guy who needs to play in a specific situation or he isn't helpful to the team (please find your game, Jakub).

 

That's how I felt about Hagelin last year.

You gotta figure with 3 great centers Vrana would develop chemistry and find a role with one, but nothing. He's just not that smart, yet.

 

Wait, so you don't like Ovie??

 

I'm with the general consensus here that you need to do something with Vrana. He's going to want a nice chunk of change next year and with the flat cap and cap crunch I dont see how he is going to fit here past this year.

 

I don’t think it’s smarts with Vrana. I also don’t think it’s effort. I think he’s just really soft. He skates hard and back checks. He’s clearly trying, but he’s non existent in puck battles and on the forecheck. I’m a big fan of his and his underlying numbers have been really good, but his lack of improvement in his compete level has really concerned me. Yeah, he probably should have a few points in the last 2 playoffs, but he genuinely has looked awful during those runs and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he disappeared when the intensity ramped up. IMO, all Laviolette wants is for him to be more assertive and competitive in puck battles. If that doesn’t improve, it doesn’t really matter where he gets traded (if he does), he’s never going to be that impactful of a player in the playoffs.

I never would’ve said this before, but I would seriously consider trading Vrana at this point for a forward that has similar value but plays harder. I would consider a Vrana for Rakell+ trade at this point (if he is not out for an extended period of time) or something along those lines.

 

What are you going to get back in return though? Who’s surrendering a young cost-controlled middle-6 forward of comparable value for Vrana? It’s like saying let’s trade Carlson for another 1D - those trades rarely happen (or work out) because the reason team A wants rid of their player likely won’t appeal to B, and vice versa.

The last thing this team needs is to get slower or older, we’re not overflowing with skill as it is, and we have little cap space for the foreseeable. GMBM only traded Mojo because he had Burky and Vrana. Burky left with Vrana still around and McMichael a few years out. He traded Stephenson and let Boyd go and we’ve spent a year with Oshie as our Center depth. I just don’t see a trade incoming without Varna’s replacement already being in the system.

 

In terms of Panik being waived, this has the hallmarks of an incoming trade. GMBM could have waived Panik so a natural C from Hershey/TS could play multiple times and didn’t, so this feels akin to waiving DSP before Jensen was added.

I’m wondering if there could be a small trade with another contender potentially, even. Mitchel Stephens (whose 4C spot has probably been lost to Ross Colton while injured) for Siegenthaler, perhaps? He’s a right shot, bottom-six guy who’s strong on faceoffs (55-60%). We need a C, Tampa are thin on D, particularly on the defensive side of the equation... youth for youth...

With so many bubble teams still undecided, I wonder if a straight up swap between contenders like that might be more doable than usual, if still unlikely?

 

I would aaaaaabsolutely love to grab Scott Laughton. Think he'd be a perfect fit and so versatile.

 

While i think we should keep Vrana for now and look again at offseason, if i have to trade him now id figure something out of the box- like.

Hall (50) +
For
Vrana & Panik

which would give us 15 games and poffs with Hall and the cap space and + to go after c depth rental like Haula or Nash aswell (can also play W). Moving forward we would have the Paniks cap space free’d and i think its possible to find a decent stopgag middle/top 6 forward for 3-4 millions from the FA or another trade for next 1-2 seasons (like Hoffman or Granlund).

Certainly not the best asset management and might end up horrible for us, but im not sure what better fits to our ”window is now” and ”all in” mode.